S43 W35961 Highway C
Dousman, WI 53118
Map
to get there
(For Grades K3
- 4)
Visit a 200 acre "working farm"
near Dousman (approximately 30 miles west of Milwaukee;
travel time, 45 minutes). Children will experience farm
life up close, with opportunities to touch many of the animals.
Oak Ridge Farm is a real working farm with large animals,
moving machinery and a barn with dairy operations. Oak Ridge
Farm may be scheduled for four hours or less between 9:00
a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
For the youngest children, we offer
sights, sounds, smells and textures in our 2 - 2 1/2 hour
program. Your children will see (and sometimes touch) cows,
horses, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, pigs, geese, ducks
and rabbits. They will go on a wagon ride through the farmer's
fields and learn how cows are milked and sheep are sheared.
They'll see a hen that lays green eggs! Tours for exceptional
education students will also be conducted within 2 - 2 1/2
hours.
Our kindergarten and first grade tours
require a three to four hour visit. The children will
see and touch many of our farm animals. They will also visit
our "old farm house" museum and possibly walk
to the pond. Depending on the teacher's request, our tour
guides will emphasize animals, crops, the farmer's jobs,
food production or the environment.
For the older elementary school students
(Grades 2 - 4), similar to the tours listed above, Oak
Ridge Farm offers specific units on: Dairy, Wool, Beeswax
Candle Making, and Bread Making. These units, available
only during the winter months (Nov. 1- March 4), include
extended time spent with cows or sheep, a milking or shearing
demonstration and looking inside a real beehive. The barn
visit is followed by the respective activity: children churning
cream into butter (Dairy), carding and dyeing wool in the
old farm house (Wool), making their own hand-dipped beeswax
candle (Candle Making) or baking a tiny loaf of bread (Bread
Making). These units must be requested in advance of your
visit! Staying approximately four hours works best for these
special trips. There is no additional fee for these units
but only ONE unit may be selected..
During the winter months, we also offer
the Wisconsin Farm History program for 4th graders.
These children will see the site of the Laney Brothers Cabin,
learn why Morris and Patrick chose the farm's location,
and discuss the old buildings. They'll examine old implements
and antiques in our farm house museum. They will also learn
what 4th grade boys and girls would have been doing before
and after school 100 years ago.
Teachers may choose to bring bag lunches OR cook hot dogs and sausages over the fire. Fire and roasting forks are provided; parents and teachers are the cooks (NO cookouts during Nov. 1 - March 5). Oak Ridge Farm is an actual operating farm occupied by our farm manager and his family. It is impossible to see and do everything in one short day! Your tour guide will try to pick appropriate activities for your day. Weather, soil conditions and time of year may affect what choices are available at any particular time. If you have any special interests, please indicate them when you register, and remember to tell your guide at the start of your tour. The special winter programming (one unit per tour) must be requested in advance. In the fall, we give one pumpkin per classroom (weather/crop permitting). If you specifically want to pick pumpkins, we suggest you consider a different field trip.
Summer Tours are also available June
27th through August 5th, 2011.
For more information please call the
Outdoor Education office at 647-6050.
(Other search terms used to navigate to this page: oakridge farm, farms.)
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